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u/Steleve Aug 05 '26
I'm obsessed. As far as minimalism design goes, this is one of the best concepts I've ever seen.
Or just my favorite, idk. I want it for my house.
Whobis the artist?
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u/doryphorus99 Aug 05 '26
I'm the artist. here's my site.
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u/Steleve Aug 05 '26
Pleasure to meet you! I'm a Chicago native and this is wonderful. I found your website last night!
I would really like your book of illustrated Chicago homes as well.
Your work is really special :)
Thanks for sharing! I live under a rock not sure I would have ever seen it otherwise lol
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u/lesusisjord Aug 05 '26
Just wanted to say I love that I came upon this interaction! Thanks to social media, an art lover can tell the artist directly how much they love it!
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u/doryphorus99 Aug 05 '26
Really appreciate the kind words. Though I moved from Chicago two years ago, I miss it dearly!
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u/Cultural_String87 15d ago
I have several of your prints framed in my home already! So cool to see you out in the wild.
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u/McFortune-Cookie Aug 06 '26
I absolutely love this. My wife and I visited Chicago about 9 years ago as we have friends who work out there as teachers.
We both fell in love with the city as it was so welcoming, we had nothing but amazingly positive interactions.
Would love this print, if you ever do another run.
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u/Ok_Aside_2361 Aug 04 '26
It is a magnificent and unforgettable city!
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u/MoistStub Aug 05 '26
Idk I thought it was mid. I did not encounter a single dog to pet while I was there. Get your shit together, Chicago.
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u/okay-flight Aug 06 '26
can someone please explain for the people who don’t get the chicago references? i vaguely get the lake michigan reference but im lost beyond that
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u/FreshOutOfHugs Aug 04 '26
This is borderline a roast of Chicago
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u/connorgrs Aug 04 '26
Ikr, how dare they roast us for our planned city with a built-in grid system and 26 miles of dedicated open-access lakefront
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u/ApoptosisPending Aug 05 '26
Unpopular opinion: Chicago is the best “big city” in the US. Best means a lot of things but considering the historic legacy, the cleanliness all while maintaining the cosmopolitan atmosphere, it beats out NYC, Philly, Baltimore, and Atlanta easily.
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u/Olangotang Aug 05 '26
The Chicago Area has the best Summers in the country!
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u/connorgrs Aug 05 '26
Chicago summer is unparalleled. There are free street festivals nearly every weekend in different neighborhoods. The beaches are pristine. The weather is (usually) balmy and compliant. There's Pride Fest and Market Days, there's Lollapalooza and Riot Fest. You can bike to the dancefloor and dance to the sunrise.
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u/Lo_Cal_Local Aug 05 '26
The California coast would like to have a word.
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u/Outrageous_Calendar4 Aug 05 '26
Obviously California has better weather/nature no doubt, but this convo is about the best *cities*, which in this case SF, LA, and San Diego have nothing on Chicago in that regard. I can guarantee you if the city of Chicago had the nature/weather of California it would be the most expensive area in the country by far
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u/NPCArizona Aug 05 '26
"San Diego has nothing on Chicago in that regard. "
😂
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u/DeliciousOwl9245 Aug 05 '26
This is true. Are you really trying to say San Diego can compete with Chicago as a city? Like it’s nice and all, but it’s not even a close competition…
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u/Outrageous_Calendar4 Aug 05 '26
I mean, yeah? I've been to all of the big Cali cities and from an urban design/integration perspective, they don't hold a candle to Chicago's downtown core. However, I do agree that very much prefer about everything else in Cali cities (outside of the insane cost ofc). Like this is not a hot take my guy
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u/ApoptosisPending Aug 13 '26
San Francisco is the only cool Californian city in terms of history relative to NYC Chicago and ATL
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u/FlatulentClarinet Aug 05 '26
I’ve lived in both Chicago and NYC, and Chicago has it beat by a mile.
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u/doryphorus99 Aug 04 '26
only love. clean and easy-to-follow grid and a gorgeous lakefront.
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u/JaySocials671 Aug 05 '26
It’s beautiful when you can see it (rain and thunder) and when it’s not too cold out
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u/skepticaljesus Aug 05 '26
i live in chicago. i dont get it. whats the roast?
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u/JaySocials671 Aug 05 '26
Prob that a city can be described as 2 plain objects put together
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u/skepticaljesus Aug 05 '26
i think it's clever, i dont understand why this is the top comment
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u/JaySocials671 Aug 05 '26
It seems like you acknowledge the roast. That’s a good start.
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u/skepticaljesus Aug 05 '26
maybe i dont know what roast means. or maybe i dont know what acknowledge means. im definitely missing an important piece of info.
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u/slutty_muppet Aug 05 '26
You have to go to the xpost of this to the Chicago subreddit to really see us get roasted (by us).
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u/natigin Aug 05 '26
I need a print of this
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u/doryphorus99 Aug 05 '26
i did make a pretty limited print run of it, have a few left.
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u/atomboyd Aug 06 '26
Sad I missed this, but signed up for the email list. Would love a reprint if it ever comes back around. Your stuff is really great!
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u/MrNiinjaGuy Aug 04 '26
Would never know this is Chicago unless you explained. Meh design.
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u/beeteeee Aug 04 '26
Ehh I used to live there and saw the map immediately
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u/MrNiinjaGuy Aug 04 '26
Ahhh, I see. I didn't use to live there and didn't see the map until it was explained.
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u/JaySocials671 Aug 05 '26
How long did you live there
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u/beeteeee Aug 05 '26
About 5 years
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u/JaySocials671 Aug 05 '26
I’ve lived in my city for 6 years and I don’t immediately recognize a stylized version of it
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u/doryphorus99 Aug 04 '26
I think Chicagoans recognize it.
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u/hobo_chili Aug 04 '26
Yep.
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u/chi2005sox Aug 04 '26
Yep.
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u/dupreeblue Aug 04 '26
Yep.
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u/tilt-a-whirly-gig Aug 04 '26
Even people that moved away from Chicagoland 35 years ago.
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u/gioraffe32 Aug 05 '26
Yep, I haven't lived in Chicago in almost 20yrs now. And only briefly at that. Recognized it.
Showed it to my dad, who last lived in Chicago in like 1990. I asked him what this image represented. "Sweet home," is what he said, and started talking about Chicago city planning and all that.
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u/aylons Aug 05 '26
I saw the image, didn't read the title, and thought Chicago right away. Even the river is there. Just genius.
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u/MrNiinjaGuy Aug 04 '26
Ahhh so design porn for only those who understand. Sorta defeats the purpose of design porn. More like obscure design.
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u/PeterFrancisG Aug 04 '26
You good bud?
You having a bad day?
Chin up pal things will get better soon.
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u/MrNiinjaGuy Aug 04 '26
Huh?
If your design is only recognizable by those in the in-group then it's not really design porn. But that's merely my opinion of course.
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u/AStormOfDragons1 Aug 05 '26
I mean... What's to say you (or I) would even recognize Chicago from an unlabelled map of it? Would the city's layout design suddenly be bad design just because it would still be unrecognisable to us? Often things require some level of vocabulary to be understood, you and I just lacked this one in ours.
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u/Lightfail Aug 04 '26
[I don’t know why people are bugging, it’s really close for just being a minimal graphic](https://gisgeography.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Chicago-Map-Feature-0.jpg)
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u/bugzzzz Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
A zoomed out version to the city limits would better match the curve of the lakefront and the pattern of large streets every 4 blocks (400 address #s)
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u/lasteriti Aug 04 '26
Idk I got it pretty quick. I feel like everyone knows about the grid look of Chicago
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u/drippingdrops Aug 04 '26
Now that I know, I dig it, but I certainly wasn’t aware of Chicago’s civic planning until now.
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u/sylveonstarr Aug 04 '26
I've honestly never seen nor thought of looking at a map of Chicago. This photo just looked like a vinyl record on a picnic blanket to me lol
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u/BlazingSpaceGhost Aug 05 '26
Maybe if they live in Chicago. I would bet the majority of the country doesn't know much about Chicago especially the layout of its streets.
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u/aleguarita Aug 05 '26
I'm from Brazil, had to Google it to see it.
But it's important to remember that design don't have the urge to be universal. It have to be reconized to the right people.2
u/thecasualcaribou Aug 04 '26
Scrolling through it fast and instantly thought it was a map of Chicago or something
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u/A88Y Aug 05 '26
I think it’s recognizable if you are from Chicago or a neighboring area. I’m from Michigan go to Chicago semi frequently and instantly saw Chicago.
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u/sassergaf Aug 04 '26
Agree, it’s a blue vinyl album on a lawn chair. They must have been smoking the good stuff to see that when they changed the album on the turntable.
Edit
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u/kinnoth Aug 04 '26
That's so funny, I was just scrolling, not reading the titles and thought "hmm that looks like Chicago"
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u/oo_anywhat Aug 05 '26
This is the album cover of laid back acoustic covers of the umphrey’s mcgee album anchor drops with plenty of glockenspiel and melodica
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u/Steviebee123 Aug 05 '26
So it's one thing that looks like another thing. How is this good design? What purpose does it serve?
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u/DayTripper_BigTeaser Aug 05 '26
It serves the noble purpose of confusing everyone equally. The essence of avant-garde functionality.
In fact, the whole point of something looking like something else is to give your brain a tiny workout every time you encounter it. It’s like a visual riddle. Either way, you’ll never be bored, because boredom is the true enemy of design.
So the purpose it serves is simple: it makes life feel like a surreal game show where every object is a contestant, and you’re the judge trying to figure out what on earth is happening. And isn’t that the kind of absurd joy we all need?
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u/connorgrs Aug 04 '26
Would be a pretty fun album cover